NGOs call on President Zurabishvili to veto law on abolition of State Inspector’s Service

Several NGOs have released a statement earlier today calling on Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili to veto a law adopted by the parliament on December 30 which replaces the State Inspector’s Service with two new agencies. 

The Georgian government adopted the bill replacing the State Inspector’s Service, which investigated alleged offences committed by state officials and law enforcement agencies, with the Special Investigation and Personal Data Protection services on December 30, despite the calls of foreign diplomats, NGOs and the opposition to pause the process.

The statement reads that the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party ‘made an unconstitutional decision extremely damaging to Georgian democracy.’ 

• US Embassy: abolition of State Inspector’s Service undermined gov’t accountability

NGOs have welcomed Zurabishvili’s assessment regarding the amendments, calling on her to ‘exercise her constitutional authority and veto the recent legislative changes.’

President Zurabishvili called on the legislative body on December 27 to refrain from adopting the draft law, stating that dissolution of the Inspector’s Service is ‘unacceptable’ without prior consultations, adding that it is an ‘independent state institution.’

• Ruling party head says US Embassy’s statement regarding Inspector’s Service ‘shakes confidence in western partners’

NGOs are also calling on Zurabishvili to ‘return the draft law to the parliament with remarks’ following the veto. Photo: President's press office.

According to the legislative changes, the State Inspector's Service will be replaced with two new agencies in March 2022.

The Georgian parliament adopted the law on the State Inspector’s Service on July 21, 2018, and the Service began operating on November 1, 2019. According to the bill, the State Inspector’s Service was assigned to conduct the investigations with the supervision of the Georgian Prosecutor's office. 

• Ruling party on replacement of Inspector’s Service: investigative, personal data protection functions not compatible

The US Embassy harshly criticised the GD for the amendments, stating that the decision ‘undermines government accountability,’ adding that ‘no credible reasons were provided’ regarding the acceleration of the process and adoption of the amendments ‘without appropriate consultations.’ 

However, the ruling party says the replacement of the State Inspector’s Service with two new agencies will strengthen the body and add functions to it, noting that the authority of the State Inspector’s Service ‘has been broadly expanded.’ 

The signatories to the statement are:

• Open Society Georgia Foundation (OSGF)
• Georgian Young Lawyers' Association (GYLA)
• Transparency International Georgia (TI Georgia)
• Social Justice Centre
• Institute for Democracy and Safe Development (IDSD)
• International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED)
• Economic Policy Research Center (EPRC)
• Partnership for Human Rights (PHR)
• Georgian Democracy Initiative (GDI)
• Rehabilitation Initiative for Vulnerable Groups (RIVG)
• Democracy Research Institute (DRI)
• Human Rights Centre (HRC)
• The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI)
• Media Development Fund (MDF)
• Georgian Court Watchman (GCW)
• Sapari